Rising junior Nicole Walch has begun her journey with the 2014 U.S. Collegiate National Team – China Tour. The Stuart, Fla. native will write about her travels and experiences with some of the top collegiate players in the country.

Prior to the trip to China, Walch first met up with her U.S. teammates in Los Angeles for a training session at the University of Southern California. Here is what she had to say about the first leg of her trip:

“I flew to LA on Friday the 13th and obviously I thought that I would have some sort of problem, because of the date (Friday the 13th!) but I had a very smooth trip! Once I arrived at LAX, I met my teammates and got on a bus and drove about 30 minutes to the USC campus.

The weather in LA was great – Blue skies, 70 degrees, just beautiful and picture perfect.

Nicole Walch smiles with one of her Team USA teammates on the beach in front of the Santa Monica Pier.

Once we arrived at USC we got our gear and since we’re all so excited to be representing our country we of course put on our jerseys right away and had a little photo shoot.”

Walch puts all of her Team USA gear on display.

Members of Team USA showing off their uniforms.

Walch and Team USA will head out to China on June 16 and will play six matches against the Chinese collegiate national team and other adult teams from June 17-27. For more information of FSU volleyball, check Facebook and Twitter.